KATHMANDU: Nepal’s parliamentary practice, which began from the Gallery Hall inside Singha Durbar, is set to return there after 17 years. The Federal Parliament, which has been operating from the Birendra International Convention Center since 2008, is now preparing to move back to Singha Durbar.

Seventeen years ago, the federal parliament building was shifted to New Baneshwor after it became difficult to accommodate the 601 representatives elected through the first Constituent Assembly election. However, the situation there has been severely disrupted due to the Gen-Z movement, while a modern federal parliament building is currently under construction within the Singha Durbar premises.

Birendra International Conference Center.

In this context, as preparations are underway for parliamentary meetings following the House of Representatives election held on March 5, public curiosity has naturally turned toward the ultra-modern parliament building being constructed inside Singha Durbar.

Looking back at Nepal’s parliamentary history, the first session of the House of Representatives was held in 1959 at the Gallery Hall inside Singha Durbar. The meeting, which lasted from just before midnight until 2 a.m. on 30 June 1959, was inaugurated by the then King Mahendra. At that time, 105 out of 106 members were present at the session.

Gallery meeting at Singha Durbar.

After King Mahendra carried out a coup against the democratic system in 1960, the 30-year Panchayat system was run from the same building inside Singha Durbar. When democracy was restored in 1990, a new House of Representatives election was held in 1991. From then until 2008, parliamentary proceedings continued to be conducted from the same Gallery Hall in Singha Durbar.

When the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) abandoned violent politics in 2006, it also entered mainstream politics from the same Gallery Hall. Even then, the hall appeared quite small in terms of capacity. Later, when 601 representatives were elected through the first Constituent Assembly election, the federal parliament had to be temporarily relocated to New Baneshwor.

The Gallery Hall inside Singha Durbar suffered significant damage during the devastating earthquake of 2015. Following that, an ultra-modern parliamentary building began to be constructed in the Putali Bagaincha area within the Singha Durbar complex.